Technology - Suzanne Fischer - Nota Bene: If You 'Discover' Something in an Archive, It... - 1 views
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Says one curator, "I wish there were more articles headlined 'Thorough, Accurate Cataloging Pays Off!' "
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So where was this document found? Was it in a suitcase in the attic of Dr. Leale's great-great-great-great granddaughter? Well, no, it was at the National Archives. Was it in a warped metal filing cabinet down a neglected set of stairs labeled "Beware of the Leopard"? No, it was in a box of other incoming correspondence to the Surgeon General, filed alphabetically under "L" for Leale. In short, this document that had been excavated from the depths of the earth with great physical effort was right where it was supposed to be.
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In the case of the recent press on the Leale report, the report had not yet been catalogued, cutting off discovery for ordinary researchers searching with finding aids and online catalogues.
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A somewhat lighthearted response to all the excitement about the "discovery" of the Leale report, a report made to the Surgeon General by the first doctor to treat Abraham Lincoln after he was shot at Ford's Theater. It's very interesting that, even though it was in the collection, where it should be, no one thought to use it in research until now.
